Improvement in rails for ornamental fence



aan, ,sara

am eine.

nmzAeefrn"` MARY STIGALE, or PHILADELPHIA, PnNNsrLvANIA Letters .Patent No. 97 ,984, dated December 14, 1869.

IMPRQVEMENT IN RAILS son ORNAMENTAL FENCE.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

I, ELIZABETH MARY STIGALE, of Philadelphia,

. county nl' Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, have invented an Improvement in Rails for Fences, Ste., of

which the tbllowingis a specification.

Nature and Object of the I nicention.

My invention consists of a recessed rail, adapted to the columns or posts oi" a fence, or frames of verandas or \,\'indo\\'s, substantially as described hereafter, so as to add to the.ornamentation of the same, bythe cultiva-tion, in the. said rails, of Creepers and other plants.

Description. of the Accompanying Drawing.

Figure 1 illustrates my invention, as applied to a railing for cemetery-lots;

liifnre 2 a longitudinal sect-ionof the rail bigule a transverse section of thel same; and Fivure 4 amodication ofiig. V1.

y General Description. In i'ivs. y1 2 and 34- A andv A represent two ornamental posts, which i may be made of terrafcotta or other suitable material, and which may be surmounted with loral'caskets a, made in accordancewith my patent of November 22,1868, or they may be surmounted with floral urns.

From post to post extends a rail, B, supported on suitable brackets, prqiectingfrom or forming apart of the posts. The rail 11v is hollow and open at' the topv throughout its entire length, and, inthe present instance, is rounded on the under side, as shown in fig. 3; but the sectionalform may be modified, ,as the taste of the constructor may suggest, providing the` rail has a longitudinal recess for receiving a mass of ',soil, in which can be cultivated ornamental creepers and other'plants, the rails being perforated at th bottom, so as to insure proper drainage.

The rail may be made of terracotta, metal, or other suitable material, audits longitudinal recessv may be partitioned at intervals,`so asV to form separate compartments for plants of different character.`

'lwo recessed railslnay be arranged between two posts, as shown in lig. 4, and in some eases more than 4two rails may be used. i p f My invention has been designed more especially for ornamental fences for cemeterylots, but it will be evident that it may be appliedto the construction of 0rnament-al fences-for gardens, terraces, 85e. The recessed rails may also be used in connection .with verandas and windows, the` rail-supporting brackets being secured to the post or frames of the verandas Witnesses:

ErILBArLEY, 'HARRY Sinnen.' 

